(Note: I have also applied to be a panelist because of my interest and expertise in this area) An underlying issue is the architecture that POS systems use to interface between physical readers (swipe, contactless, etc) and the payment authorization providers. In the old model the POS system managed both of these components. While inherently flawed, this model has good industry standards support such as the JPOS interface from the Association of Retail Technology Standards (ARTS) which is a division of the National Retail Federation (www.nrf-arts.org). It appears that this type of architecture is what allowed the breach at Hannaford Bros earlier this year. The new model that is emerging has the authorization software taking direct ownership of the devices so that the data can be encryted as soon as it comes in off the physical reader. This eliminates the opportunity for "sniffing" the unencrypted data as it travels between the device and the payment provider via the POS application. However, this model is not widely adopted and has yet to get see necessary standards emerge. As a member of the ARTS Technical Committee and Board of Directors, PCMS (a major global retail software and services provider) will be working to facilitate the development and promulgation of approriate standards. Dave Moorman Director, Retail Technology The PCMS Group PLC (www.pcmsgroup.com) PCMS Datafit, Inc. (www.pcmsdatafit.com)